6 CMs to sign Renukaji Dam project agreement tomorrow

The Chief Ministers of Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttrakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan will sign an agreement for the Renukaji Multipurpose Dam Project here on Friday, which is being built to meet the drinking water needs of these states, the government said on Thursday.

The agreement will be signed in the presence of Union Minister for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Nitin Gadkari.

The dam is conceptualised as a three-way project to be constructed along the Yamuna and two of its tributaries, the Tons and Giri. Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh are the two states involved.

The projects were conceived in 2008. Most of irrigation cost and the drinking water component of these projects will be funded by the central government. The six beneficiary states would chip in with 10 per cent of the expenditure.

“The Renukaji Dam project has been conceived as a storage project on Giri River in Sirmour District of Himachal Pradesh. The project envisages construction of 148-metre high rock-filled dam for supplying 23 cubic metres per second water to Delhi and other basin states.

“The project will also generate 40 megawatt of power during peak flow,” the government said in a statement.

“After the construction of the dam, the flow of river Giri will increase by about 110 per cent which will meet the drinking water needs of Delhi and other basin states up to some extent in the lean period,” it added.

Another agreement will be signed for construction of sewage system for areas in the city of Prayagraj (earlier Allahabad).

The agreement will include two projects for sewage management and will be signed under the ‘One City One Operator’ concept’ among U.P. Jal Nigam, National Mission for Clean Ganga and Prayagraj Water Pvt. Ltd.

“The trans-Ganga/Yamuna areas in Prayagraj (Naini, Phaphamau & Jhunsi) currently do not have any sewage treatment facility and pollute Ganga and Yamuna.

“Prayagraj town already has a comprehensive sewerage and sewage treatment facilities. However, these are with different operators and without long-term sustainable mechanism for Operation and Maintenance (O&M),” said the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation.

The government has sanctioned Rs 908.16 crore for the two projects, which will include construction of three sewage treatment plants of total capacity 72 million litres per day (MLD) (Naini: 42 MLD, Phaphamau: 14 MLD and Jhunsi: 16 MLD).